Henry
by theicecreambattle
Summary: In the Underworld, Henry meets the man who shares his name.


**This is something I wrote inspired by a tumblr post of what would happen if Henry meets Henry Senior in the Underworld. :) Special thanks to Tara who helped beta.**

 **Dedicated to Allison to cheer her up 3 and Katherine for a belated birthday present.**

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"Regina?"

A gentle voice calls out. She stills, her grasp tightens while everyone stops dead in their tracks, with their backs visibly tensed. They are not expecting company. Or rather, they don't know who they SHOULD be expecting, what being in the Underworld and all. Henry wonders if his father is there, if he'll have a chance to meet the man who died when he couldn't remember who he was.

"D–daddy?"

In his 13 years of age, he has never heard his mom stammer, not like that. There's something about her voice that sounds so different. In that instant, she sounds so… so young… so timid, both words that he would never thought of associating with his mom.

"My baby girl…"

He turned around to face the man - _is he though - a man? Or is he a soul now? He wouldn't know in this place -_ who shared his name. He looks old for a daddy, or even a grandpa, _since he supposes that he would be his grandpa, or great-great-step-grandpa,_ _is that even a thing_? Or perhaps it's because he is comparing him to David who doesn't look a day past 35, despite his real age, or even to his other grandpa - _he's starting to think that maybe he has too many grandfathers to keep track of all of their ages_. The man is mostly bald, a bit stout, doesn't look much like his mom, but he has kind eyes and a soft smile, something he sees in his mom every now and then. Interestingly, he sounds exactly like his mom now - gentle, timid and hesitant.

"Is that –?"

"Yeah, that's Regina's father. I only saw him a few times."

There he has it. A confirmation of what he already knows from his grandparents, the err— younger looking ones. Strangely, his mom hasn't moved a step. She didn't even turn around to face the man. She just stands frozen in place, looking down, almost as if she is afraid to move, which makes him wonder why. It seems like her father is - _was?_ , a nice person. He didn't give him the shivers like Cora did. Cora was…. creepy, to say the least. But Henry, well, Henry Sr. looks like a huggable teddy bear compared to her.

"Mom?"

He prompts her, with a small and what he hopes to be encouraging squeeze of her hand. He notices it now, that his mom is on the verge of having a meltdown. Her eyes are sad and filled with guilt. Her lips quivering. _He wonders if she is cold? Scared?_ Her other hand wrapped around her middle, something he knows she only does when she's feeling fearful or insecure about something. Suddenly, he feels a sense of protectiveness towards her. Had her father always been harsh or cruel to her as Cora was? He doubts it, since his mom obviously loves the man, evident in his name. Still, she looks so afraid. Her eyes haunted by a memory of something that happened.

"Mom?"

He gently prompts again, unable to bear the silence. He gives her another nice squeeze on her hands for added support, only to have her snap out of her trance and directly into what can only be perceived as panic. Abruptly, she releases his hand. The usual sparkle in her eyes replaced with fear, sadness and worry. She whispers apologies over and over, he wonders if he is hearing her right. Why would she apologize to him? She hasn't done anything that needs an apology. She bites her lower lip and turns, finally facing the man who shares his name.

"Daddy…"

Her voice sounds steadier, but still so very young. She fidgets (a nervous habit of hers). The man? Henry Sr? Grandpa Henry? - _He really should figure out what to call him when all of this is over_ \- walks over to her - _so souls do walk and not float—interesting_ and opens his arms. She releases the breath she's holding and crumbles into her father's arms, sobbing and holding on for dear life - _he would chuckle at the irony of where they are if he weren't so confused and concerned about his mom right now_. She cries, gasps and chokes out the same apology over and over again - _he manages to catch a few words "i'm sorry, daddy. I'm so so sorry."_ while Grandpa Henry - _yes, it sounds better this way_ soothes her by running his hand through her hair with the same reassuring words "it's okay, darling. You did what you had to do."

He looks over to the other people in their group - Grandpa David - _that'll take some time to get used to_ \- and Grandma Snow - _or he could just call her grandma since Belle insists that he still call her Belle -_ both sporting an equally confused expression. The rest went off earlier to explore the other route - _quite frankly, he didn't know if that was such a great idea since his other mom is still mad at his other grandpa - oh dear, maybe he does need to revisit his therapy sessions with Archie, after all - but at least, Robin is with them. Hopefully, he can be the mediator if things get too… heated._ Both of them walk over to him now, his grandma holding his hand while Grandpa David throws an arm over his shoulder and whispers "give her a moment". He wants to be patient but he hates seeing his mom cry. He has this urge to reach out to her and comfort her somehow.

Fortunately, after some time, his mom calms down. Grandpa Henry tucks her hair behind her ear and gives her a small peck on her forehead, wiping her tears with his hand. In that moment, he knows he is starting to like his Grandpa already. He comforts her. That's good. His mom needs more people like this around her. They release their embrace and his mom reaches out a hand to him. He walks up to her and takes her hand in his without hesitation. She clears her throat and smiles before motioning to the man on her right.

"This is your grandfather. Daddy, this is Henry, my son."

Grandpa Henry's face lights up at the mention of his name, beaming with pride. He chuckles - _strange, he sounds just like him when he does that -_ and shakes his hand.

"Nice to meet you, Henry."

"You too, Grandpa Henry."

He still doesn't know why she had that initial reaction when she reconciled with her father. Not until they are back in Storybrooke two weeks later and she sits down with him in his bedroom and admits she killed her father for the sake of her revenge. It is then when he understands that she was terrified of meeting her father again because she was fearful that her father would hate her for it. She was terrified even more so of her son rejecting her when he realized the awful and terrible things she had done after seeing her victims firsthand. She trembles as she confesses that while she feels remorse over her past actions, she doesn't know if given a choice, she could choose any differently than she did many decades ago if it meant he would never have been born. She weeps bitterly as she admits keeping this from him, fearing that he would look at her as the Evil Queen again. That is when he comforts her and reassures her that while he may not always be fully aware of the extent of her past sins, he is fully aware of who she is now and how far she has come. He has seen firsthand how hard she has worked for her redemption, how willing she is to sacrifice herself to protect the ones she used to hurt, to fight for what is right and what is true, to forgive the ones who hurt her in the past and to embrace the new family she has found. What he sees is not a woman who slaughtered villages and ripped hearts out and literally been to hell and back, but his mom who has done everything she can to make the right choices, even at difficult times, and to be a better person.

And she is not someone that anybody named Henry will give up on.

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 **I'll gladly take any reviews, thoughts and opinions (or heck, share some of your own headcanons)! :D**


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